The basics of planted tanks is rather simple. You have plants, light (and think about intensity on the substrate level - not just high output bulbs), CO2 and ferts.

Ideally, you want your plant growth to match up with the amount of CO2 and ferts. The closest things to an anchor to all of this are:

1. Plant selection
2. Light selection

Plant selection should drive the amount of light you need and that should help determine how much ferting and CO2 you need.

Planted tanks typically overdose on ferts (in the water column) bc unlike terrestrial plants, changing the water out effectively removes all excess ferts.

So plants melting:

This can happen bc the plants were rehomed from another tank (LFS, or friend's) and water conditions are typically different from tank to tank. This is usually temporary so as long as light, CO2 and fert parameters are relatively equal.

The other reason is bc the plants are starving. This can happen if there is too little light or too much light. Clearly, thats easy to tell at the fringes - when you have way too little light vs. way too much. For those cases in between, you should look at the plants closely. Are the leaves or parts of the leaves closer to the light showing damage first? If so then its likely too much light. If your plants tend to reach for the top of tank (and by that i mean they're stringy and grow more vertically than horizontally) then its likely too little light.

Too much light means that either your plants aren't designed for that light, or that the plants need more food to grow with the light they're "ingesting". Plants need an appropriate amount of light, CO2 and ferts. If light especially is out of whack with the CO2 and ferts, then you can endager your plants health (partly why its the closest thing to an anchor). Too much CO2 wont hurt the plants - but possibly your fish and too many ferts wont hurt the plants but possibly your fish and the chances of getting algae.

The plants you have, as far as I can see, are not that demanding on light. Looking at what you're doing, its likely that the light is the deficiency here and you need to upgrade to something slightly better. It could also be that some of your plants are not either designed for the environment and its also likely that some just won't grow regardless of everything "looking good on paper".

I would start by making sure no plants are being overshadowed. I would also leave the light on longer (but not more than 9 hours a day). See what growth you get and keep your ferts up. If you get algae, then its a sign that you are adding too many ferts + too much light for your plants to consume and you should decrease both.

Play it like that and come back with results and we'll help you fine tune this.

Oh, and although I hope we havent irrevocably damaged this thread, start another thread so we don't completely kill this one (sorry to the rest of you)!

hey daylily we are here to help you. i also come from an outdoor garden as well as hydroponics background. im also an experienced aquarium keeper but first time planted tank keeper. ive learned alot from this site. with gardens it is better to under fert then over fert, its true. and ph around 6.5 helps nutrients not get locked out by salt build ups. but in a planted tank, its ok to over dose as long as you do your weekly water change. i find in my spec v with stock light that dosing is not necessary but with certain plants may need certain requirements. try posting some pics others will come in to help.

I actually just ordered the same light (fugeray 16") and am a little disconcerned to read that.

Overall though, save for that shaded area, how is the lighting? Enough for solid, compact growth without the need for CO2?

I'd appreciate your feedback, thanks!

I'm not sure if it will produce enough light to promote compact growth with the plants, but so far my experience with this light + pressurized co2 has been positive, my dwarf hairgrass is sending runners already after just a week

I personally think the amount of light you get from 16" fugeray is perfect for a spec V if you're doing a non co2 setup, considering that it's such a small tank.

This is mine recently set up. I bought a plant for left back corner right after the video. I gotta decide on a light strip in case this one decide to commit suicide. It gotta be an option to rest on the side with the lid intact.

I made a weak attempt with a Spec 2 about a year ago which suffered from poor placement in my home (not very visible = not enough attention) and a move. The surviving plants and a single RCS and white cloud minnow have been relocated into a Spec V in a much more visible location. I like the size of the V much more than the 2.

The tank is stock except for a 25W heater in with the pump. I found a piece of malysian driftwood that I like that barely fits in the tank.

Currently stocked with some anubias nana, a bit of unknown moss, a little anacharis and hornwort, some java fern rhizome bits that I'm trying to coax back to life, and a couple small moss balls.

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